In the fall of 2007, I fondly remember sitting in my freshman-year shop class overhearing some of my classmates talking about the week’s hottest new release. The hype of Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft’s new, historically-themed open-world game, had caught their hearts and minds. I could admit that a big new game set during the Crusades was a pretty awesome concept. But the lukewarm preview coverage from magazines and websites made me cautiously optimistic.
Later that week, getting top marks on the school year’s first big test earned me a trip to Best Buy. Standing in front of rows and rows of excellent Fall games, I noticed two copies of Assassin’s Creed left, and recalled the enthusiastic chatter from school. I was a fan of Ubisoft Montreal’s Splinter Cell and its underrated 2001 Batman game. So I figured, “Why not?” and picked up a copy of this weird game people couldn’t stop talking about.
